Cybersecurity and Reliability of Electric Power Grids in an Interdependent Cyber-physical Environment

Cybersecurity and Reliability of Electric Power Grids in an Interdependent Cyber-physical Environment
Author: Yichi Zhang
Publisher:
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2015
Genre: Computer networks
ISBN:

As information and communication networks are highly interconnected with the power grid, cyber security of the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, or energy management system (EMS), has become a critical issue in the electric power sector. Cyber security of the SCADA/EMS system can be improved by deploying the trust systems to monitor network traffic for malicious attacks. However, cyber attacks could still be successful if attackers possess sufficient offensive resources. By exploiting vulnerabilities of cyber components, attackers are able to intrude into the SCADA/EMS system and send fabricated commands to local field devices. The reliability of the power system could thus be impacted by various cyber attacks. Quantitative assessment of the cyber attack and defense on the SCADA/EMS system are needed in cyber security evaluation approaches. For instance, the deployment and runtime cost due to the defensive trust systems will affect the original function of the power system without careful planning and design. Therefore, optimization of static trust system placement and routes between nodes, as well as self-recovery mechanisms, should be considered in the SCADA/ EMS network. Furthermore, vulnerability evaluation of the cyber attacks on the power system should be analyzed. A number of methods are used to characterize the attack patterns, and estimate frequencies of the cyber attack that may occur on the SCADA/EMS system. Examples include Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), Attack Graph, and Mean Time-to-Compromise (MTTC). Meanwhile, probabilistic methods used for reliability evaluation, such as Monte Carlo simulation (MCS), should be improved by considering impacts of cyber attacks on the power system. This dissertation is focused on optimizing both the static placement of the trust nodes and the dynamic routing of communicating nodes in the SCADA/EMS system, as well as investigating the reliability impact of the power system considering probabilities of successful cyber attacks on the SCADA/EMS system. Contributions of this dissertation include optimization of the trust system placement in the SCADA/EMS system using the set packing algorithm, the least cost route searching with the trust node aware optimal routing algorithm, the use of Bayesian attack graph and MTTC models to demonstrate probabilities of successful cyber attacks, modeling of normal and penetration attacks against the intrusion tolerant system with a modified semi-Markov process (SMP) model, estimation of MTTCs on the control center and substations considering the optimal allocation of offensive and defensive resources, power system reliability analysis incorporating cyber attacks in the integrated wind farm SCADA/EMS system architecture, and estimation of reliability indices in IEEE reliability test systems considering cyber attacks on SCADA/EMS system.

Communications, Cyber Resilience, and the Future of the U.S. Electric Power System

Communications, Cyber Resilience, and the Future of the U.S. Electric Power System
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 75
Release: 2020-08-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309676800

Electric power is a critical infrastructure that is vital to the U.S. economy and national security. Today, the nation's electric power infrastructure is threatened by malicious attacks, accidents, and failures, as well as disruptive natural events. As the electric grid evolves and becomes increasingly interdependent with other critical infrastructures, the nation is challenged to defend against these threats and to advance grid capabilities with reliable defenses. On November 1, 2019, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop to gather diverse perspectives on current and future threats to the electric power system, activities that the subsector is pursuing to defend itself, and how this work may evolve over the coming decades. This publications summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Cyber Physical Systems Approach to Smart Electric Power Grid

Cyber Physical Systems Approach to Smart Electric Power Grid
Author: Siddhartha Kumar Khaitan
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2015-01-02
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3662459280

This book documents recent advances in the field of modeling, simulation, control, security and reliability of Cyber- Physical Systems (CPS) in power grids. The aim of this book is to help the reader gain insights into working of CPSs and understand their potential in transforming the power grids of tomorrow. This book will be useful for all those who are interested in design of cyber-physical systems, be they students or researchers in power systems, CPS modeling software developers, technical marketing professionals and business policy-makers.

Cyber-Physical System Security of a Smart Grid

Cyber-Physical System Security of a Smart Grid
Author: Chih-Che Sun
Publisher:
Total Pages: 119
Release: 2019
Genre: Smart power grids
ISBN:

The integration of computing and communication capabilities with the power grid has led to numerous vulnerabilities in the Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs). This cyber security threat can significantly impact the physical infrastructure, economy, and society. In traditional Information Technology (IT) environments, there are already abundant attack cases demonstrating that unauthorized users have the capability to access and manipulate sensitive data from a protected network domain. Electric power grids have also heavily adopted IT to perform real-time control, monitoring, and maintenance tasks. In both 2015 and 2016, two sophisticated cyber attack events targeted Ukrainian's power grid, causing wide area power outages. It highlights the importance of investment in cyber security against intruders. In order to address the cyber security issues for today's communication technologies, a reliable cyber defense system has become an essential element for the power grids. This dissertation presents research results of the CPS security studies for different power system sections, including Substation Automation System (SAS) and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). To understand the vulnerabilities of communication systems and interactions between cyber and physical systems, a survey of the state-of-the-art on smart grid technologies has been conducted. It considers the existing cyber vulnerabilities in power grids and establishes solutions against the cyber attacks. However, the existing cyber protection systems can not cover all sections of a smart grid by one defense measure. This study proposes two Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) to enhance the cyber security for SAS and AMI. In order to analyze the impact of cyber attacks and test the performance of the proposed IDSs, a Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) testbed has been developed to provide a co-simulation environment between cyber and physical systems.

Cyber-Physical Security and Privacy in the Electric Smart Grid

Cyber-Physical Security and Privacy in the Electric Smart Grid
Author: Bruce McMillin
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2022-06-01
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3031023536

This book focuses on the combined cyber and physical security issues in advanced electric smart grids. Existing standards are compared with classical results and the security and privacy principles of current practice are illustrated. The book paints a way for future development of advanced smart grids that operated in a peer-to-peer fashion, thus requiring a different security model. Future defenses are proposed that include information flow analysis and attestation systems that rely on fundamental physical properties of the smart grid system.

Probabilistic Reliability Analysis of Power Systems

Probabilistic Reliability Analysis of Power Systems
Author: Bart W. Tuinema
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2020-04-22
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3030434982

This textbook provides an introduction to probabilistic reliability analysis of power systems. It discusses a range of probabilistic methods used in reliability modelling of power system components, small systems and large systems. It also presents the benefits of probabilistic methods for modelling renewable energy sources. The textbook describes real-life studies, discussing practical examples and providing interesting problems, teaching students the methods in a thorough and hands-on way. The textbook has chapters dedicated to reliability models for components (reliability functions, component life cycle, two-state Markov model, stress-strength model), small systems (reliability networks, Markov models, fault/event tree analysis) and large systems (generation adequacy, state enumeration, Monte-Carlo simulation). Moreover, it contains chapters about probabilistic optimal power flow, the reliability of underground cables and cyber-physical power systems. After reading this book, engineering students will be able to apply various methods to model the reliability of power system components, smaller and larger systems. The textbook will be accessible to power engineering students, as well as students from mathematics, computer science, physics, mechanical engineering, policy & management, and will allow them to apply reliability analysis methods to their own areas of expertise.

Cyber Infrastructure for the Smart Electric Grid

Cyber Infrastructure for the Smart Electric Grid
Author: Anurag K. Srivastava
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2023-02-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1119460751

Explore a thorough treatment of the foundations of smart grid sensing, communication, computation, and control As electric power systems undergo a transformative upgrade with the integration of advanced technologies to enable the smarter electric grid, professionals who work in the area require a new understanding of the evolving complexity of the grid. Cyber Infrastructure for the Smart Electric Grid delivers a comprehensive overview of the fundamental principles of smart grid operation and control, smart grid technologies, including sensors, communication networks, computation, data management, and cyber security, and the interdependencies between the component technologies on which a smart grid’s security depends. The book offers readers the opportunity to critically analyze the smart grid infrastructure needed to sense, communicate, compute, and control in a secure way. Readers of the book will be able to apply the interdisciplinary principles they’ve learned in the book to design and build secure smart grid infrastructure. Readers will also benefit from the inclusion of: A thorough introduction to the key skills required by engineers to manage the evolving complexity of the electric grid An exploration of the interdependencies of smart grid infrastructure required to sense, communicate, compute, control, and manage data securely Software modules in .exe format for demonstrations and exercises An examination of the fundamental principles of smart grid operation and control Perfect for professionals working in the electric utility industries at electric utilities, vendors, and the national labs, Cyber Infrastructure for the Smart Electric Grid will also earn a place in the libraries of senior undergraduate and graduate students studying electrical engineering and smart grids.